Commuters are trying out different ways to get to work now that the Metro has shutdown service on the Blue and Yellow Line just south of Reagan National Airport in Virginia for the next 3 months as part of an enhancement that they are conducting. For some of these commuters, it means riding a bike to work.
Alexandria Bicycling and Pedestrian Advisory Committee vice chair for bicycling Josephine Liu says that she welcomes all Metro riders who think putting on a bike helmet and hopping on a bike is the best alternative during the three-month Metro shutdown. BPAC is providing mentoring programs to show bike commuters the best, safest routes to work by bike.
“I think we’ve had between 13 to 15 people actually go through the process of getting mentors,” Liu said. “A lot of people are figuring it out on their own,”
she said. Liu also added that a group called Alexandria Spokeswomen held a ride this month with the intention to give riders a sense of what commuting via bike would be like.
For Liu, who’s been commuting to work in D.C. from Alexandria for the past six years, the
bike ride is often the best part of her day. She takes the Mount Vernon Trail, and she describes it as a sometimes magical experience. “I’ve seen bald eagles on the way to work. I’ve seen an osprey sitting in a tree eating its breakfast just 20 feet away from me,” Liu said. And, she often sees “bike friends” on the way in, riders she knows from the commute or from social rides.
Brian Crowe, at Conte’s Bike Shop in Alexandria, said that he has had more inquiries from people about bike commuting – about two to three people a day on weekdays and double that on the weekends, leading up to the shutdown.
Conte's Bike Shop on King Street is just a few blocks away from the access to of Mount Vernon Trail. The Mount Vernon Trail connects both the Four Mile Run Trail and the bridges into D.C.
Crowe and Liu both agreed that having good light that gives riders good visibility of the road at night is important, as well as having lights that make the rider visible to motorists.
Both of them agreed that commute by bike can change the way people feel about that trip to and from work each day.
Properties in
